The Materials Research Society of Singapore (MRS-S) and the Nanoscience Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI) of the National University of Singapore (NUS) in association with the Chinese Materials Research Society (C-MRS) and the Materials Research Society of India (MRS-I) jointly organized the inaugural MRS-S Trilateral Conference on Advances in Nanoscience: Energy, Water & Healthcare. B.V.R. Chowdari (MRS-S), Duan Weng (C-MRS), and Baldev Raj (MRS-I) co-chaired the conference, which was held on August 11–13, 2010 at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Singapore, the supporting organization. Guest-of-honor Barry Halliwell, Deputy President of Research and Technology at NUS, emphasized the need for research collaboration between the three countries and congratulated the corresponding Materials Research Societies for bringing the scientists from these countries together.
Keynote speaker Seeram Ramakrishna (NUS) described the importance of the theme and uniqueness of challenges in energy, water, and healthcare to the three countries and to the world overall. He described his work in the area of electrospun nanofibers, demonstrating how an understanding of the basic science quickly translates into commercial products. According to Ramakrishna, the ability of the electrospinning process to mass-produce continuous fibers with nanometer-scale diameter of different materials may provide solutions to global issues ranging from healthcare to environmental issues to energy.
Oral and poster presentations in the area of healthcare placed emphasis on the diagnosis of diseases and in the delivery of drugs and other biomolecules. To convert a laboratory discovery to a useful product for the benefit of society, many different skills will be required and the conference brought such experts together. For example, after discoveries are made in biomarkers, it is essential for researchers to work with those who can fabricate and utilize the information.
The overriding message in the section of presentations on water was that challenges in water can unite the nations. Presentations covered nanomaterials-based sensors and devices, new membrane technologies incorporating biomimetic processes, and forward osmosis.
In the energy section, materials of importance and relevance to energy-conversion (e.g., solar-to-electrical, heat-to-electrical, and fuel-to-electrical), storage (e.g., in rechargeable batteries, such as hydrogen), and utilization (e.g., efficient light-emitting diodes, photocatalysts for pollutant-degradation, and water desalination), were discussed. In addition to the fundamental aspects, technology-developments, device fabrication, and performance-testing of them were reviewed and discussed.
The presentations demonstrated that the materials and technologies developed can be scaled up to quantities of relevance to the industry. The lessons learned from such experiences can result in harnessing nanotechnology for societal applications.
The organizing Societies plan to establish a series of conferences to be rotated between the three countries with the interval of one year between the conferences. The next conference in this series will be held at the College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, China.
